Verb drill
French address order: build a delivery label
Put French address details in the right order: name, number, street, building, postcode, town. Rebuild five delivery labels and check your answers.
- A1
- 6 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
A French address goes: name, then number + street (12 rue Victor-Hugo), then extra details (Bâtiment B, 3e étage), then postcode + TOWN in capitals (69003 LYON), and the country if sending from abroad.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
| Line | Example |
|---|---|
| 1 · Name | Madame Claire DUBOIS |
| 2 · Extra (building, floor) | Résidence Les Tilleuls, Bât. C |
| 3 · Number + street | 8 avenue Jean-Jaurès |
| 4 · Postcode + town | 31000 TOULOUSE |
| 5 · Country | FRANCE |
1 · Write the line in French order
- (Rue Pasteur, 15) → (number first)
- (Nantes, 44000) → (postcode first)
- (Boulevard Voltaire, 102) → (number first)
- (Lille, 59000) → (postcode first)
- (Place de la Mairie, 3) → (number first)
- (Bordeaux, 33000) → (postcode first)
How do you write an address in French?
Monsieur Paul MARTIN · Bât. B, 2e étage · 15 rue Pasteur · 44000 NANTES · FRANCE
Mr Paul Martin, Building B, 2nd floor, 15 Pasteur Street, 44000 Nantes, France
Each part goes on its own line on the envelope.
When you give your address aloud, French follows the written order: J'habite au 15 rue Pasteur, à Nantes. Note au before the number. For online forms, the fields are usually Adresse, Complément d'adresse (building, floor, door code), Code postal and Ville. A door code is le digicode: delivery drivers will often ask for it.
What are the French words for an address?
| Abbreviation | Full form | English |
|---|---|---|
| bd | boulevard | boulevard |
| av. | avenue | avenue |
| pl. | place | square |
| bât. | bâtiment | building |
| esc. | escalier | staircase |
| BP | boîte postale | PO box |
| bis / ter | bis / ter | number + a / b (12 bis) |
Postcodes have five digits; the first two are the département (75 Paris, 13 Bouches-du-Rhône, 69 Rhône). On labels, the town is often in capitals. 12 bis means a second building at number 12 (like 12a). No commas are needed in the street line, though you will often see 12, rue Pasteur.